


Eddie, My Love

by Jamjamsfics



Series: the "Out of The Ashes of a Hungry Fire" universe [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: 5000 hits celibration, Attempted Love Confession, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Gay Panic, Love Confessions, M/M, Mixtape, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, fic contains a gift, reddie mixtape, you don't have to read the main fic to read this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 11:43:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21391588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamjamsfics/pseuds/Jamjamsfics
Summary: "Richie spent almost an entire week planning this gift out. Eddie’s birthday gift, a personal cassette tape tailored specifically to Eddie. It seemed simple. Just listen to the radio and record whenever a song that Eddie liked would come on. It wasn’t as simple for Richie, not for this tape at least. You see, the tape wasn’t just meant as a nice gift to Eddie. It was also meant to be his love confession."Richie makes Eddie a mixtape for his birthday with a secret message hidden within the songs.or Richie attempts to confess to Eddie with a mixtape.(you do not have to read the main fic "Out of The Ashes of a Hungry Fire" in order to understand/read this one-shot. check beginning notes for a link to the actual mixtape playlist!)
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: the "Out of The Ashes of a Hungry Fire" universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542163
Comments: 14
Kudos: 124





	Eddie, My Love

**Author's Note:**

> hey!! so we hit 5000 notes on Out of The Ashes of a Hungry Fire! as promised, here's a one-shot equipt with a gift! thank you guys so much!! gift at the end of these notes!
> 
> for those who have not read the main fic and don't have any want to read it, and for those who have and just want to know wtf this fic is all about, there's a flashback scene where Eddie is listening to a mixtape Richie had made him for his birthday in one of the chapters of the main fic. this one-shot is the canon of how that mixtape was given to Eddie! I wanted to make this its own fic because 1. its too long for a flashback scene, 2. there's really nowhere in the main fic to fit it in, and 3. because I wanted to post something special to celebrate 5000 hits!! and an excuse to create the actual mixtape from the fic, down to the very meticulously placed songs. Richie went hard on this one.
> 
> as promised, here's the mixtape playlist! enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WTQxMkZKcVol4GRCixylS?si=fkyzJcAhTPuCoJ9O-G5KJA

** September 2 n****d ** ** , 1987 **

Richie spent almost an entire week planning this gift out. Eddie’s birthday gift, a personal cassette tape tailored specifically to Eddie. It seemed simple. Just listen to the radio and record whenever a song that Eddie liked would come on. It wasn’t as simple for Richie, not for this tape at least. You see, the tape wasn’t just meant as a nice gift to Eddie. It was also meant to be his love confession. 

Richie planned everything, down to the very placement of each song. The first few were songs Eddie loved, ranked from most favorite. The second half were songs that Richie himself liked and thought Eddie might like as well, but not ranked in any specific way. After that, broken up by a specifically placed Bohemian Rhapsody, were a few songs that, when he heard them.....he thought of Eddie and blushed wildly, heart racing in his chest. All this ended with 1956’s Eddie My Love by The Chordettes. 

This one tape took him hours, _ days _ of planning. He brainstormed charts, wrote ranking lists and finally started to compile everything together. Now, before the internet, you couldn’t just download the songs and pop them onto a disk and call it a day. You had to glue yourself to the radio, listening for hours for that specific song and hope to god you recognize it in time to record the entire thing. Richie spent a total of 13 hours _ alone _ hitting his head against his desk listening to the 50’s station for that _ one _ song. Eddie My Love was the most important part of this entire thing. Sure, the random love songs would set off confusing flags, but they were me re ly stepping stones to the big thing. The song that _ literally _ screams “Eddie my love, I love you so”. He was sure Eddie would immediately understand what this meant. It was just a matter of....giving it to him. He could do it. He had to do it. 

“i can’t fuckin do it, Stan!” Richie exclaimed, pacing around in Stan’s bedroom, frantically gesturing and talking just as fast as Eddie usually did. Stan laid back on his bed, barely paying attention, reading a magazine. 

“and why’s that, Rich?” Stanly said with a small sigh and no enthusiasm at all. 

“what do you mean ‘_ why’s that _ '!? Why the hell do you _ think _ that is!? I mean....like....what if it goes south? What if Eddie is repulsed by me and never wants to talk to me again, Stan, what if _ that _ happens? I wouldn’t be able to _ live _with myself!” 

Stanly rolled his eyes, closing his magazine and sitting up in his bed. “look....Richie....that’s not going to happen. You know Eddie, he wouldn’t do that.” Stan stood up. “now...” he grabbed Richie by his shoulders, turning him around and walking him out his bedroom door. “got the hell out of my house, and I'll see you at Eddie’s party tomorrow. And if you don’t bring that cassette tape, I will personally go to your house, grab it, and shove it up your ass.” Stan spoke as sweetly as he could, smiling at Richie, which made his threat that much more....threatening. Richie just nodded. 

“o-okay, yeah...thanks, Stan-” 

“yep.” Stanly shut the bedroom door. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------- 

Eddie’s party wasn’t much of a party. They never were. It was just him and his three friends, Bill, Stan, and Richie, doing their best to hang out in Eddie’s room without his mom checking up on them every few seconds to make sure they are “staying safe” or “not doing anything illegal or bad”. They never dared do anything questionable. Not even play video games. Eddie didn’t have a tv in his room, anyway. 

Eddie’s mom was nice enough to leave them alone to watch movies in the Livingroom for a while until they took their popcorn and pizza back up to Eddie’s room to talk, play board and card games, and give gifts. 

Give gifts. It was time for Richie to give Eddie his gift. The others went first, and Richie was behind, watching and holding the frantically wrapped cassette tape so tight he might tear the paper. His chest was racing 50 miles a minute. His face was so red, Eddie asked if he was sick when it came time for him to give his gift over. 

“Richie, if you're sick, _ please _ take a surgical mask from my drawer and wear it the rest of the night, you know I have a weak immune system.” 

Richie shook his head. “no, um....no, no, I'm not sick, I'm good, promise.” he gave a small grin, thrusting forward his gift. “here, uh....I made it...special.” 

“made it?” he raised a brow and took it, confused for a sec but then he caught on and grinned as he opened it. “oh, sweet, Rich, you made me a tape!?” 

“oh, c-cool! L-l-let's listen to it!” 

“yeah, I'll pop it in right--” Eddie started to get up to head over to his cassette player when Richie practically screamed. 

“NO!!” he reached out to Eddie as if to pull him back with the force. Stan rolled his eyes. The other two looked to Richie confused. “....um..... I mean....I'd.....rather you listen to it when we leave.” 

“um....o...okay?” Eddie nodded, though still very confused, and placed the tape down on his desk. “sure thing, Rich, I'll....do that, then.” 

Richie felt like he was going to die. He felt sick and couldn’t tell if it were the five pizza slices he had eaten or the sheer emotional whiplash. 

As confused and concerned for Richie’s mental health as the other two were, they soon got over it, continuing their celebrating and Richie soon got over his sick feeling, or at least for the time being. 

Stan shot Richie an actually genuine smile. He was proud of his friend for finally bringing up the carriage to confess his feelings, albeit very indirect. It was at least something. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

That night, the rest of the boys went home, and Eddie wouldn’t admit that he was anxious and excited to listen to the tape. What in the world could possibly be on this tape that made Richie so adamant that Eddie wait until he was alone? He popped the tape into the cassette player and hesitantly pressed play. The first song was Africa by Toto. He smiled. That was his favorite song ever. The next was Forever Young by Alphaville. Another favorite. Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield played after that. Three favorites in a row, not too bad. Eddie listened on, and found that most of his top favs were in this cd. Eddie couldn’t help but blush and smile. Richie really knew him so well. 

Listening further, songs that he didn’t really know that well but sounded like things Richie would listen to, played. He wasn’t that into Richie’s type of music, but he’d give these a shot. They weren’t bad. Some were kind of provocative, but he found himself bopping to the beat. 

Then came the love songs, and he got....confused. He saw the theme. Some of his favs, some of Richie’s favs, but where did these blatant lovey-dovey songs fall into the theme? He could feel his heart pound as thoughts raced his mind and he quickly shooed them away. There's no way it meant anything more than just....cheesy songs Eddie might like? Definitely that. 

And then it came on. 

Immediately, the words wrong out of the small speakers. 

_ “Eddie my love, I love you so.” (x4) _

Eddie’s heart stopped and his eyes widened. 

_ “ _ _ How I've waited for you, you'll never know. _

_ Please Eddie, don't make me wait _ _ too _ _ long. _

_ Oh Eddie, Eddie, I love you so”-- _

Eddie jumped up as fast as he could, slamming his hand down on the stop Butten so hard, he was surprised it didn’t break before scooting back on his bed and pulling his legs to his chest. He looked like he saw a ghost. He felt his chest was going to explode. 

What _ was _ that!? Was that a song from the 50s? Singing about ..... _ him? _ And being _ in love _ with him? What did this mean? There had to be a meaning to it, this wasn’t a coincidence, Richie specifically made this for _ him _. Was that why he didn’t want Eddie to listen to it until everyone left? Until he was alone? What was Richie trying to say? 

The lyrics rang in his head. Was Richie trying to tell him.....he loved him? His face heated up and he began to shake. There was no way Richie loved him. Right? “this....this is....probably j-just added in as a joke.” he nodded, reassuring himself. “yeah, that’s it, it’s a joke, nothing more than a joke. I mean....this is _ Richie _ after all, he’d totally do something like that.” he laughed slightly but was still a bit shaken up. If this was supposed to reassure him.... then why did it make him feel a little sad? 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Richie contemplated never going to school again and just running away and joining the circus. He could be a clown, he liked jokes and shit, and he’d never have to face Eddie ever again. it was a perfect plan. 

Sadly, clown school was not in his budget right now, so he had no choice but to face the music, so to speak. Walking through the halls, he held his head down, watching his feet and spacing out. He was shaking and scared, he wanted his heart to shut up already. If Eddie just avoided him all day, it might be for the best. Maybe _ he _ should avoid _ Eddie _. 

“Hey Rich.” Eddie’s voice behind him startled Richie into literally jumping and shrieking. Eddie looked to him with concern. “whew, dude, you cool?” 

Richie caught his breath but still didn’t look at him. “y-yeah, yeah, I'm....okay....” 

“so, I um....listened to the tape last night.” there it was. He was so dreading what came next. 

“oh, um....yeah?” 

“heh, yeah, it was....really nice! You got my personality down to a T.” he chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck. “heh. Nice joke, too, by the way~” Eddie stepped to walk beside Richie instead of behind. 

Richie looked to him confused. “....joke?” 

“Eddie, my love~” he did his best to mimic the song, grinning. “you almost got me for a sec, dude. I didn’t even know that was a song, where in the world did you find it?” 

Richie’s heart sank. He felt like sobbing. Eddie thought it was a _ joke _ . His plans were ruined all because Eddie was so used to his stupid _ jokes _ . Eddie obviously had no feelings for Richie, or else why would he automatically go-to joke? He couldn’t possibly say, ‘no, Eds, it wasn’t a joke, it was real.’ This tape was supposed to help him _ avoid _that. He had to muster up a smile and fake laugh. “oh, right, forgot I even put that on there. I mean....I dunno, I just happened upon it one day and....thought it’d....be funny.” The two of them laughed and carried on down the hall before having to part. 

Eddie headed down a separate hall, waving to Richie before turning, face instantly dropping. It really was a joke, after all. Of course, it was. Why would it be anything else? 

As soon as Eddie left down the hall, Richie hit his head on his locker and sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head rest against the metal. 

As Eddie continued to walk and Richie stood at his locker, they both had the same thought at the same time. 

“I guess it’s just not meant to be.” 


End file.
